Go short or wide?

How to decide? How to learn how to decide?

Dutch Girls Rugby (DGR) went all the way to South Africa to play two internationals against South Africa Under 18. Credit to SARFU to have a magnificent tv/online coverage so we could watch it back home here in the Netherlands.

Dutch Girls Rugby outplayed RSA Under 18

I think the Dutch Girls were a bit too impressed by it all and they took some time to settle and start doing what they do best: play a fast, opportunistic and adaptive style of rugby. As usual, some lovely decision making showing how these girls truly understand Tactical Situations like “Attack the Space”, “Quick Recycle”, “Life of the Ball”, “Ruck Efficiency” and in my example in this post “Quick ball? Opportunity to go Wide”. 

Go short or wide?

Let us have a look at this clip. It has been a strong first 20 minutes by RSA but that is not reflected on the scoreboard: 0 – 0. Then this penalty for DGR and true to their style the decision for a quick tap is made. Let us watch the following attack:

This is what I see:

• Two strong carries to put the defence under pressure (“Occupy the free Space”);
• The Ball Carrier and two Support Players organise a quick ball;
• Not enough defenders folding around the ruck;
• There is the opportunity to go wide;
• (Also, a lot of ball watching, coaches Marcel & Mats will not be happy about this….);

What happens next is the ball is played and the decision is made to miss two players. With a skilful execution of the pass, the ball is on the outside. Then it is “just” finishing the overlap with Player 22 recognising the “Go wide decision” and getting in position to receive that pass to create the overlap and score.

So not a fixed penalty move, just nice interplay based on a shared understanding of Tactical Situations!

How to decide?

We talk about heads up rugby, but what to look for? How to decide? What is your cue? Looking at this try and decision making process: in “Quick Ball opportunity to go wide” it is about counting the numbers of defenders and then when the ball is indeed quick, the decision to go wide.

But how does that work, just “knowing” what is outside of you and “seeing” there are not enough defenders? The player receiving that quick ball could have gone short but decides to miss two and go wide. What did she see? A compact defence outside her designated tackler perhaps, trusting her wing would be out wide?

How to train this?

How to learn and create the understanding of these Tactical Situations? Well, players learn by doing and we have to practise these situations. You would have to create that unbalance in defence and the decision making moment: go short or wide. A good example of what I do is this exercise I call “XY – Color”

• X – the number of attackers;
• Y – the number of defenders;
• Color – the marker signalling the width of the grid;

All the players line up behind me outside the grid, a row of defenders and a row of attackers. I call the X -number, the Y – number and the Cone color, so immediately the players have to decide if they are on or not! Next they move into the grid, looking at me and my feed of the ball AND at their opposition line-up. Me feeding the ball to influence the time / opportunity to go wide or not.

• So you could do a “5 – 3 – White” that would allow for that space and unbalance, feed an early ball to see if the players would simply pull and pass or a late pass to force that ruck;
• Or do a “6 – 5 – Yellow” with a late feed to see if there would be a quick ball, they would keep that unbalance and create / use that opportunity to go wide;
• Would the attackers do a little chip with “3 – 4 – White”?;

Writing this blog I realise I ran this exercise when I had a guest appearance at Amstelveen R.C. and that THP was part of it, crazy!

What kind of exercise would you run?

How to coach this?

Trusting your players to make these decisions it is about freeing them up and allowing them to decide. Build trust in them that the results will come if they keep working hard in the Tactical Situation learned in practise. This is why I think it is fundamental to not simply run a backline passing drill, but to include that adaptive / decision making moment. In this second game it took DGR some twenty minutes to feel that confident to play their style of rugby, the coaches not interfering shows their commitment to the DGR principles and the enormous trust they have in the system and players they created.

Also this: instead of spending time on fancy penalty moves, the coaching staff choose to develop tactical awareness.

And what is left for RSA?

The RSA Under 18 team is a very new and fresh set-up and the team just came out of a three week (!) training camp – but it will take a bit more time for them to get up to this level of game awareness. It would be interesting to learn what their program was in those three weeks of training. I am confident they will take a lot from these two games and come back stronger.

Nitpickers

Well, some here in the Netherlands would argue this is not our National Under 18 but a private initiative. Disappointed to see the wonderful images of Stellenbosch with that backdrop, the RSA Green and Gold, the overal effort of the SARFU and then just a hint of Orange. Come on Rugby Netherlands, do better! How inspiring would it have been to do a formal shirt presentation the week before departure with some of the National Women’s XV players involved? A missed opportunity surely!

Related material

• I am a big fan of Dutch Girls Rugby, lots to learn from them, I explain in this blogpost;
• Dutch Girls Rugby has a website, enjoy their free flowing style of rugby;

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